Catching Up: How To Get Back On Track With Retirement

Feeling as though you have to play catch up, or you’re always falling behind isn’t a very ideal or fun place to be in, particularly when you’re talking about retirement and your financial situation as you head toward the end of your working career.

Retirement isn’t anything to overlook since it’s the lifeblood between you and having the ability to retire at a reasonable age, typically 62 or younger. If you’re too conservative or don’t pay much attention to retirement, you might find yourself working well into your 70s, which isn’t exactly impossible but highly unrealistic.

Furthermore, do you even really want to?

In order to pad your retirement stats, you have to be constantly thinking about it on a consistent basis, and that means doing all the right things to secure a promising financial future, one that won’t see you run out of money in the midst of retirement or, again, have you working far beyond an age that seems reasonable.

But not everyone has been studious or prudent with their retirement fund over the years and find themselves really in a tough position: they simply don’t have enough saved at whatever point they’re currently in as far as saving money and retirement go.

So what exactly can you do?

Chances are, you’re going to want to simply up your yearly contribution, and while that makes sense, it isn’t always feasible, particularly if you’re on a restricted budget as it is. You may need every inch and ounce of your paycheck, and thus adding more to your 401K isn’t always easy. In that situation, the answer is relatively easy: pair down your day to day, month to month budget and then reallocate that money into your retirement, particularly if your company matches your 401K and your money is put aside on a pretax basis.

One other method could be investing money into retirement that you happen to stumble upon, whether that is an inheritance or bonus at work. Instead of using that money elsewhere, put it into your retirement fund, so you can start closing the gap with big chunks of change. Sure, a new car would be nice, and that down payment is in your hands, but think more about bigger picture and larger term (retirement).

And when in doubt, you can always start cutting from that aforementioned budget, more so than previously discussed. Restricting your budget to allow for more to be put into your 401K is fine, but what about going a step or two ahead of that? Don’t be afraid to get lean and mean with how you spend your money.

Retirement shouldn’t be stressful if you’re planned for the part correctly, and that starts with prudent spending while you’re working but a better sense of retiring as it relates to being exactly where you want to by the time you call it quits.